I’ve had MCS for nearly 20 years. I’m a survivor of of the Three Mile Island partial nuclear meltdown, excessive x-ray radiation from medical treatment as a child from a teaching hospital that has since been ongoingly investigated for bioethics violations, and successive exposures to lead and mold from reckless landlords.

I’ve been a community activist for many years, along with a scholar and teacher of Critical Science, Technology and Medicine Studies.

In late 2016, I founded the Health Justice Commons, a non-profit. Our mission is to re-imagine and remake healthcare for our times.

To support efforts for MCS Awareness Month, we want to address the gap of basic research of our experiences.

Awareness is growing about the harmful effects of synthetic, artificial fragrances. This is with good reason, but now, many people have jumped onto the natural fragrance and essential oil (EO) bandwagons, believing them to be safe alternatives.

Is this a good thing?

Some believe so, after all, what could be wrong with something that’s natural?

The UK has released their Clean Air Strategy 2019 document and it contains some groundbreaking measures that, if implemented, will have very positive impacts on the environment and our health.

It encompasses many areas of air pollution, including indoor air pollutants for the 1st time in any meaningful way, which as NOAA recently pointed out, have as large an impact on outdoor air pollution as vehicle exhaust!

The few news reports I saw did mention air “fresheners” and perfumes, with some building materials, but didn’t get into details. I had to dig through the document and what follows is most of what pertains to our interests here, being seriously sensitive to indoor pollutants.

I’m sure that other sources will focus on the regular types of outdoor pollutants quite well, while mostly ignoring the indoor products and materials, so I will not touch upon them, except for a few illustration screenshots from the report.

I’ve added very little of my own commentary. It’s almost entirely copied and pasted (and reformatted) from their document, so you can see for yourself what their plans are regarding NMVOCs (non-methane volatile organic compounds) from consumer products and materials that leave so many of us disabled and housebound, and unfortunately, far too rarely in a home that protects us from exposures and contributes to our well-being.

Many people are unaware that emissions in the home increase personal exposure to pollutants and contribute significantly to our overall national emissions.

Burning wood and coal in open fires and stoves makes up 38% of the UK’s primary emissions of fine particulate matter1 (PM2.5). Harmful sulphur dioxide (SO2) is emitted by coal burned in open fires.

Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) from a wide variety of chemicals that are found in carpets, upholstery, paint, cleaning, fragrance, and personal care products are another significant source of pollution.

There’s actually a lot of info out there that the things that disable us are harming many other people too, just in different ways.

An info dump of links are included below. Take your time and read through them, as you will learn things that will help you protect yourself and your family in the absence of product and material regulations that should exist to protect us.

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In many places, it’s also the law to accommodate us
to the point of undue hardship.

“inconvenience, morale, and preferences are not valid considerations in assessing whether an accommodation would cause undue hardship”

Adverse Effects reporting

How to File an ADA Complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice
You can file an Americans with Disabilities Act complaint alleging disability discrimination against a State or local government or a public accommodation (private business including, for example, a restaurant, doctor’s office, retail store, hotel, etc.).

Food

Buy Non-GMO
Buying non-GMO not only impacts your own and your family’s health concerns, it also influences the buying decisions of food manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.

Cultivating Food Co-ops
– resources and tools to meet the needs of those involved in sustainable food and farming co-operatives

Dr Vandana Shiva and Navdanya
are actively involved in the rejuvenation of indigenous knowledge and culture. It has created awareness on the hazards of genetic engineering, defended people’s knowledge from biopiracy and food rights in the face of globalisation and climate chan

How to File an ADA Complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice
You can file an Americans with Disabilities Act complaint alleging disability discrimination against a State or local government or a public accommodation (private business including, for example, a restaurant, doctor’s office, retail store, hotel, etc.).

Environmental Health Center-Dallas
The mission of the Environmental Health Center – Dallas is to provide superior medical care and education with a special emphasis on the effects of environmental factors on health and disease.

Paradigm Change
While we are interested in all kinds of toxins (including heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, fire retardants and other chemicals), a particular focus is on the biotoxins made by molds, cyanobacteria and other microorganisms.

The Story of Stuff Project
Short, easily shareable online movies that explore some of the key features of our relationship with Stuff

News

EcoWatch
focuses on the issues of water, air, food, energy and biodiversity

Environmental Health News
a foundation-funded news organization that advances the public’s understanding of environmental health issues by reporting and publishing news stories and providing daily access to news from other media around the world.